The present invention is directed broadly to storage and dispensing cartridges, cassettes or cells useful in automated dispensing equipment, particularly for dispensing equipment used for the dispensing of medicament.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,332 describes a medicament dispensing cell consisting of a dispensing hopper and slotted disk generally referred to as a hopper disk. Each hopper disk is permanently mounted to a dispensing cell and the hopper is filled with medicament. The operator must maintain an adequate supply of medicament in the hopper for dispensing the desired quantity to fill a patient's prescription. The operator must also insure the hopper is not overfilled; otherwise the excess medicament will affect accurate dispensing and could damage the medicament by crushing, grinding or jamming.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,394 discloses a dispensing cassette utilizing a dispensing hopper and slotted disk. Each cassette is filled with a particular medicament and stored on a cabinet shelf. The operator removes a cassette from the cabinet shelf when the desired medicament is needed for a patient's prescription and places the cassette on a dispensing unit. The operator programs the dispensing unit with the desired medicament quantity needed for a particular prescription. The dispensing unit then operates the cassette for accurately counting the desired medicament. As in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,332 design, the cassette must not be overfilled with medicament to insure proper operation and accurate dispensing and to avoid damaging the medicament by crushing, grinding or jamming within the cassette.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,721 discloses an increased capacity hopper for attachment to a modified dispensing unit. The modified dispensing unit utilizes a motorized rear platen to agitate and feed medicament from the increased capacity storage hopper to the dispensing platen. The rotating platen within the storage compartment has radial grooves to better agitate the medicament and eliminate jamming. However, this constant rotation of the grooved platen has a tendency to damage some medicaments by grinding them together and creating dust and medicament fragments due to the constant agitation. This embodiment requires an external force to rotate the rear platen and is not independently adjustable from the dispensing platen so as to optimize the medicament level within the dispensing compartment.
A super cell product available from McKesson Automation Systems Inc. utilizes the slotted dispensing hopper disk of U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,332 and increases the storage capacity for a dispensing cell or cells mounted in a cabinet. The storage hopper compartment is mounted onto the dispensing cell and allows medicament to flow from the storage hopper compartment, through a funnel and into the dispensing hopper disk.
There remains a need for an improved dispensing cartridge, which increases the capacity of the medicament dispensing cartridge, insures the delivery or flow of medicament from the bulk storage to the dispensing portion of the dispensing cartridge, while maintaining the proper level of medicament in the dispensing compartment, that is transportable within a pharmacy.